Abstract
In the Central Mediterranean region, the production of chemically diverse volcanic products (e.g., those from Mt. Etna and the Aeolian Islands archipelago) testifies to the complexity of the tectonic and geodynamic setting. Despite the large number of studies that have focused on this area, the relationships among volcanism, tectonics, magma ascent, and geodynamic processes remain poorly understood. We present a tomographic inversion of P-wave velocity using active and passive sources. Seismic signals were recorded using both temporary on-land and ocean bottom seismometers and data from a permanent local seismic network consisting of 267 seismic stations. Active seismic signals were generated using air gun shots mounted on the Spanish Oceanographic Vessel ‘Sarmiento de Gamboa’. Passive seismic sources were obtained from 452 local earthquakes recorded over a 4-month period. In total, 184,797 active P-phase and 11,802 passive P-phase first arrivals were inverted to provide three different velocity models. Our results include the first crustal seismic active tomography for the northern Sicily area, including the Peloritan–southern Calabria region and both the Mt. Etna and Aeolian volcanic environments. The tomographic images provide a detailed and complete regional seismotectonic framework and highlight a spatially heterogeneous tectonic regime, which is consistent with and extends the findings of previous models. One of our most significant results was a tomographic map extending to 14 km depth showing a discontinuity striking roughly NW–SE, extending from the Gulf of Patti to the Ionian Sea, south-east of Capo Taormina, corresponding to the Aeolian–Tindari–Letojanni fault system, a regional deformation belt. Moreover, for the first time, we observed a high-velocity anomaly located in the south-eastern sector of the Mt. Etna region, offshore of the Timpe area, which is compatible with the plumbing system of an ancient shield volcano located offshore of Mt. Etna.
Highlights
The Mediterranean represents a complex tectonic region located between the African and Eurasian plates
Despite the large number of studies that have focused on this area, the relationships among volcanism, tectonics, magma ascent, and geodynamic processes remain poorly understood
ETNA experiment, we investigated the possible relationship between this high-velocity anomaly and an upwelling of the Moho, as suggested by Nicolich et al (2000) for the Ionian margin of Sicily at up to 17 km b.s.l
Summary
The Mediterranean represents a complex tectonic region located between the African and Eurasian plates. In this area, large-scale extensional basins and convergent domains coexist with a diverse range of volcanic environments. Large-scale extensional basins and convergent domains coexist with a diverse range of volcanic environments Given this complexity, the Mediterranean basin cannot be explained using a uniform geodynamic framework. The Eastern Mediterranean (Aegean region) has historically been considered an ancient back-arc extensional basin associated with the north-east Hellenic arc subduction zone, which at present is characterized by little or no tectonic activity (e.g., McClusky et al 2000; Papanikolaou and Royden 2007). In the southern Tyrrhenian Sea and eastern Sicily, several studies have attempted to constrain the structure of the crust (e.g., Barberi et al 2004; Scarfı et al 2007, 2016)
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